SPARKLEWASH

During the week of April 26th, 2010 the Sparkle Wash Company (636-949-0206 owned by Fred Schoder) performed the above described services. The first day they power washed with a machine that looked like a large floor sander. Then over the course of the next 2 days they applied the deep seal and then the top seal. On the 3rd day during the final sealing process I talked to the owner about some concerns had. I pointed out areas of significant discoloration of the concrete which appeared after the first 2 days of treatment. This seemed to irritate the owner and he asked why I hadn't stopped him from starting the last coat of seal. But I arrived home prior to the time he said he would start and it really seemed to me that these were areas that he should have noticed. At this time it was impossible to step onto the concrete decking and investigate further. So he finished the job and I paid him in full. I called him later and he said to wait a few weeks and the areas would bleach out from the sun. I called him back on May 12th, 2010 and he again said to wait because there had been so much rain that the sun didn't have a chance to properly bleach the areas. I told him at that time, in my opinion, there was no way the sun was going to do anything to improve the appearance. I asked what could be done if I was right and talked to him a little about what could have caused the problem. He said that there might have been impurities in the concrete that were brought up through the wash/seal process and that it might have to be power cleaned again. Bottom line he advised waiting and specifically said to contact him after June. On July 21 I called Sparkle Wash and the number was answered by a gentleman named Don. I told him I had been dealing with Fred. He said he was the new owner of the company as he had bought the company from Fred in June. (It is my understanding that he bought the outside business and that Fred still deals with indoor projects.) Don did say that he still worked with Fred and it would be Fred's responsibility to complete jobs that he started. That night I received a call from Fred and he agreed to come out and look at the problem. This was the first time since he performed the job that he bothered to take a look at the issues. The next morning Fred and Don arrived at my house and I showed them some of the areas of concern. Fred said that the concrete was discolored because the top surface was porous and implied that it had been damaged through the aging process. (He asked how old the concrete was. And the answer is that it is now a few months older than it was when he accepted this job.) As I look closely at the concrete it does appear that the surface is damaged, but it is my belief that my concrete was damaged by the high powered pressure washer which caused the discoloration. It was not discolored prior to the processes. Fred contended that my concrete was too dirty for me to see the damage prior to the washing. That simply is not true. The damage goes all the way around the pool. To make an already long story shorter, Fred asked me what I wanted and I said I wanted it to be fixed. Fred said there was nothing he could do to fix my concrete. He did offer a $125 credit. I told him I would have to think about it. But I decided to decline the offer because return of $125 is not meaningful when compared to the permanent damage done to my concrete. In summary, my complaint is that: My property was damaged during the course of the pressure washing. If it was because the concrete was old (20 years but in good shape) then they (the experts) should be responsible for knowing whether the process could harm the concrete. Additionally, other homeowners should be aware this is a possibility. The owner was evasive and deceptive. After he applied the treatments and received payment he did not come to my premises to look more closely at the problem - even though he claimed he had when we finally met. If he had come out to examine the problem earlier he would have learned what the issues were and hopefully not told me to wait while the sun bleached out the areas. He in fact totally dismissed me for months. When I talked to him mid May, and he asked that I wait beyond June to contact him again, he did not mention that he was selling the business in June.